E-mail from Mass Transit:

SALES Professionals - BUS & RAIL

Complete Coach Works is growing, again. We are the leader in the remanufacturing, rehabilitation, re-powering (including: alternative fuels and Hybrid Propulsion Systems), accident and burn repairs, wheelchair lift installations, and the integration of the industry's newest technology into fleets all over the country.

As our industry embraces "sustainability," our 20 years of providing Re-Utilization solutions has definitely come of age. Quality and Customer Satisfaction are genuinely our focus, and are the secrets to our success. Currently we are seeking an Account Executive who shares our philosophies and vision.

Learn more about Complete Coach Works at: www.completecoach.com. Contact us at: hrdept@completecoach.com.

I am sure that in this case, "coach" is referring to rubber tired motor coaches, perhaps a bit OT for this forum. 10 years ago Blitz Brothers in Chicago did a lot of rebuild and repair on these vehicles. On a tour through their shop I was surprised to see coaches from New York State area being repaired in Chicago. They came on on a flatbed after wrecks, and were driven back home. So apparently there is market for this kind of thing, and Blitz has gone belly up and closed.

Bob Kutella

They are headquartered near us and one of their press releases says that their new General Manager was promoted from "National Sales Mgr - Rail". I am going to contact them about restoration work.

Well, I would be very interested if they were set up to do rail and transit cars and willing to do historic restoration work. The first step might be to write specs and have them bid on a fairly well defined project. I bet it would be eye opening and give us all a better handle on the value and worth of our volunteer workforce and results. Please keep us informed of any progress here.

Bob Kutella

I'm interested in how compact their lift mechanism seems to be. I've seen the units in action (that's an NJ Transit bus on their website), and was suitably impressed at how little space the unit occupied. If this is something that could be hung on the undercarriage of a car to provide access without being a visual blight within the carbody, or chewing up a ton of floorspace when not in use (for example, the Steamtown CNJ combine's lift unit), it might have possibilities in our environment.